Study: No Proven Morning Sickness Treatments

Experts Find Limited Evidence for Treatments for Morning Sickness, and Some Side Effects

WebMD News Archive

Morning Sickness Relief: What to Do

If a woman with morning sickness asks what to do for relief, Matthews says she would tell her: "There isn't enough strong evidence to recommend any intervention."

However, she tells WebMD: "Women can decide with their practitioner if something is safe." Even if the treatment wasn't proven effective in the review, she says, women may still decide, in consultation with their doctor, to take it, if it's safe.

If so, she says, they should realize that the treatments don't have a strong scientific foundation to prove they work.

Morning Sickness Relief: Other Opinions

Even though many of the treatments reviewed aren't backed up by strong scientific evidence, some are worth a try, says Richard Frieder, MD, an ob-gyn at Santa Monica--UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., and assistant clinical professor at the University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine.

He reviewed the report for WebMD but was not involved in it. "I commonly recommend to patients they have ginger supplements and eat a little something every two hours and drink at least three liters a day of salty or sugared liquid," he says.

Staying nourished and hydrated helps, he finds.

"Real life doesn't always mimic scientific findings, especially if you find a treatment that works for you, and some anecdotal evidence says it could work," says Joslyn Gumbs, MD, an associate professor of ob-gyn at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, who also reviewed the findings.

For many of the remedies, including vitamin B6 and ginger, "it doesn't hurt to try," she says, if your doctor agrees.

Both Gumbs and Frieder say they've had good luck quelling morning sickness in some women using drugs.

Available treatments for severe morning sickness, when a woman must be hospitalized and given medications and intravenous support, do work, Frieder says.

Time helps, too. ''By the 12th week, it's pretty much over," Gumbs says, but adds that some women do battle morning sickness during the entire pregnancy.